


Autumn Beginnings

by fromcrossroadstoking



Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Job Interview, a hint of speirton
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:47:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26864632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fromcrossroadstoking/pseuds/fromcrossroadstoking
Summary: Carwood Lipton interviews at a prestigious museum and meets a very intense man.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	Autumn Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [masongirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/masongirl/gifts).



> Based on the HBO War characterizations and not the actual men.

When it opened there was nothing like it in the world. Three years later and there still isn’t really. The main building of the institute looks almost made for giants, it’s so massive. The four other buildings stretched out behind it in almost a v-shape aren’t that much smaller. The structures stand like giants surrounded by a sprawling greenscape dotted with statutes. The impressive campus is topped off by several historic battleships and submarines that are moored at the docks located just behind the buildings. The sight is an impressive one that never fails to make Carwood’s jaw open ever so slightly in wonder and today is no exception. It is far from his first visit to the International Warfare Museum, but it is perhaps his most important visit which means today Carwood’s wonder is soured just a bit with a sense of nervousness. **  
**

He takes a deep breath as his feet crunch on the bright orange leaves littering the path. He focuses his eyes straight ahead, attempting to concentrate on the reason for today’s visit instead of the scenery around him. Carwood Lipton is here for a job interview. It is perhaps the most important day of his life and if he said he wasn’t nervous, he would be lying. The museum is hiring a new curator for their collection of personal war stories - it’s a job that is right up Carwood’s alley. Battlefield strategy, weaponry, and the grand (and often convoluted) politics of war had never been his thing. No, his interests lay with the men and women on the front lines, the everyday soldiers who fought side by side with their friends, the ones who gave their lives, and those who survived. Carwood had dedicated his studies to their stories and now, armed with a shiny new PhD, he hoped to dedicate his whole career to them, here, at the International Warfare Museum. The prestigious museum houses thousands of accounts that Carwood is itching to dive into.

As Carwood reaches the front entrance, he pauses. Standing in the warm fall sunshine, he takes yet another breath and straightens his tie before walking through the grand front doors. The older gentlemen at the front desk looks up as Carwood walks in, apparently waiting just for him.

“Dr. Carwood Lipton?”

“Yes, sir, that would be me.”

“Excellent. I recognize you from the article I read just yesterday. Fascinating work you do, doctor. Quite fascinating. Now if you’ll just follow me, I’ll show you right away to the interview room.”

Carwood follows the old man as he moves with surprising grace for someone his age through the long and winding hallways towards a suite of offices and conference rooms. They stop just outside an open door where the sound of a friendly debate drifts out into the hallway. The older man knocks on the doorframe and peeks his head inside announcing, “Dr. Lipton is here for the interview.”

“Oh, good. Send him in please.”

The man gestures for Carwood to enter and Carwood nods gratefully at the man as he walks past him and into the room. 

In the room there’s a large dark wood table with five men sitting around it. Carwood can feel his nerves flare up briefly at the sight. While he knew it was a panel interview, he had been expecting three or maybe four people, not five.

“Dr. Lipton,” the red-headed man in the middle stands, “Pleasure to meet you. I’m Dr. Richard Winters and these are my colleagues, Dr. Lewis Nixon, Dr. Harry Welsh, Dr. Ronald Speirs, and Dr. Norman Dike.” Dr. Winters gestures to each man in turn, each one greeting him as they’re introduced. Carwood’s eyes linger a bit too long on the one introduced as Dr. Ronald Speirs, who may in fact be the most handsome man he’s ever seen, but he catches himself and blinks away the thought. He has an interview to concentrate on, after all.

The interview gets underway immediately as Carwood takes his seat. Dr. Winters starts off with some basic questions and Carwood manages to relax a bit. They all take turns asking their own questions (with the exception of Dr. Dike who appears to wish he was anywhere but here) and the answers flow with surprising ease from Carwood. Slowly but surely, the interview starts to feel more like a friendly chat among colleagues than a formal job interview. Carwood finds he gets on incredibly well with Welsh, Nixon, and Winters. Dike appears to be a lost cause as he spends most of the time doodling in his notebook. Speirs is a hard read - he’s not hostile, but he doesn’t come across as the warm and fuzzy type either. And his rather piercing gaze make’s Carwood’s pulse jump more than once. But other than his inability to get a good read on Speirs and Dike’s lack of engagement, the interview goes smoother than Carwood could have ever hoped for. The scheduled hour and a half melts away in the blink of an eye and suddenly they’re saying their goodbyes and the older gentlemen from before is escorting him back to the front entrance.

Carwood does his best to keep his cool as he exits the building and makes his way down the front steps. There’s a multitude of thoughts and emotions swirling around inside of him but despite the lingering nerves and doubts, he feels good about the interview. They had all seemed to like him for the most part. Especially Ronald Speirs who had stared at him with an intensity normally reserved for doctoral students scrutinizing their research subject - like at any moment Speirs was going to whip out a pen and paper and start writing a detailed thesis entitled “Carwood Lipton: An In Depth Analysis on Speech Patterns and Facial Expressions” while periodically muttering _“fascinating”_ under his breath. Carwood can’t help but chuckle at the thought. Speirs had been… intense to put it one way, and the way Speirs had looked at him - Carwood couldn’t shake the image of those piercing brown eyes locked on to him (and he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to). 

A sudden movement on his left startles Carwood from his thoughts just as he’s reaching the bottom stair. 

_Speak of the devil…_

Carwood comes to a stop, turning to face the very Dr. Speirs he had just been thinking about. Speirs stops on the stair just above where Carwood stands and offers him a small, brief, smile.

“Dr. Lipton, this, of course, isn’t the official offer but instead of making you wait all weekend, I wanted to let you know that you’ve got the job.”

Carwood is surprised into momentary wordlessness at the quick but welcome news. Speirs extends his hand for a handshake which Carwood gladly accepts.

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you, Dr. Speirs,” Carwood smiles politely at the other man, “I very much look forward to working with all of you.”

Speirs returns the smile as he lets go of Carwood’s hand. “You should be receiving the official phone call Monday.” With that, Speirs turns and makes his way down the rest of the stairs, stopping briefly on the pathway headed towards the left to turn around and call out, “And Carwood? You can call me Ron. See you next week.” There’s a flash of a sharp smile before Ron turns around and makes his way down the path towards one of the other buildings. 

Carwood watches him go for a moment before continuing on his way back to his car. His surprise gives way to a whirlwind of excitement and anticipation and his mouth forms into a grin almost as large as the buildings behind him. There really was nothing in the world quite like this place.


End file.
